Pecuniarities

Financial, health and moral reasons to slow down.

- Benjamin Franklin, Poor Richard’s Almanack

Whenever I used to hear this quote, my reaction would be something like “Yeah, okay.” I’d figure that it was probably true but never really gave it much thought, and it pretty much went in one ear and out the other. But now that I’m getting a little on in [...]

As a follow-up to my post on how you can save money and get more exercise with a mini home gym, I thought I would offer some tips and tricks that Madoline and I have discovered over the years to burn a few extra calories and prevent weight gain during the course of our daily [...]

While cold weather has it charms – pretty white snow (for some of us), excuse to drink lots of hot chocolate, Thanksgiving, Christmas, etc. – with it comes some less charming side effects: colds, flus, etc. Not only is it no fun to get sick, it can be expensive. When one is not feeling well, [...]

I know this seems strange considering that I am currently holding a 2009 Financial Resolutions Blog Contest, but I don’t do new year’s resolutions anymore. Sure I still make general decisions/goals/plans/etc. for my life, but I no longer pin them down to specific years.
In years past I have set new years resolutions only to forget [...]

You may not know it, but you may be waging long term biological warfare on yourself and your family. There is increasing awareness about the harmful effects of exposure to chemicals such as pesticides and household cleaners, but did you know that air fresheners are also poisons?
History has taught the human race that bad smells [...]

As of this writing, “No-Air Conditioning Summer” is over for us (thank goodness!), but before I talk about how and why it ended, I thought I’d offer some tips on staying cool for those who either choose to or have to live without A/C for frugality’s sake or due to power outages, etc.
Before we begin, [...]